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As Jesus approached Jerusalem, the people celebrated him as king. And yet a short time later he was sentenced to the death penalty and executed by crucifixion. What king did they expect? And what king did they ultimately find instead? Join me, Pastor Richard, as we look at Jesus' triumphal entry for Palm Sunday. For our passage, Jesus was coming from Galilee and he was approaching Jerusalem riding on a donkey. We know that, right? But I don't know how much you've ever thought about it. At first glance, at first thought, it's a bit funny. Riding on a donkey. Maybe uh think of a donkey as something more appropriate for a hobbit to be riding on, right? It's a funny thought, uh, mental picture, Jesus to be riding in on this animal, uh, not on a big majestic horse, and there's somehow there's trumpets behind or a chauffeur or something, and there's this cinematic music as he's but it's not like that, is it? He's not even riding on a camel where he's far and above, and everyone can see him up high. He comes entering on a donkey. If we had someone to pull up right now to our church behind us there, to that little area in between, they pulled up in a Lamborghini, they pulled up in a Ferrari, a limousine came pulling up. You'd say to yourself, someone very important has just arrived. There's a VIP out there, right? Uh, if someone comes in on one of these uh mobility assistance scooters, your first thought probably would not be, I think it's the president of Singapore visiting. Right? Uh so it's an interesting thing that Jesus comes on this donkey. And yet there's there's a reason for it. Now, there's a few things I looked up to find out a little bit about donkeys. I I don't happen to have any natural knowledge about that. Donkeys, I give you a few facts about donkeys. Donkeys have these really big ears, they are more suited to desert areas, and with these big floppy ears, it does two things. It helps to dissipate heat so they don't get too hot, and they can hear another donkey up to 100 kilometers away in the flat desert. 100 kilometers away. These are very sensitive ears, and the donkey, as well, uh they can live to be up to 50 years old. I had no idea about that, and they're very social animals. So if they are separated, up to 25 years later, they may still be able to recognize one another. These are interesting animals, these are unique animals. Uh the donkey can actually take the role, and still does to this day in places, of looking after sheep. Instead of a sheepdog, you have a donkey. And the donkey will protect the sheep, and the sheep will actually, uh, when they feel there's something they're not too sure about, they will gravitate towards the donkey. Didn't know this before, right? I certainly didn't. Uh they're known for being stubborn. Donkeys are known for being stubborn. I've not been called a donkey, but I have been known to be stubborn at times. Donkeys are known to be stubborn, but actually they are very intelligent animals. And so the reason that they are acting that way is because they are very careful about their self-preservation. And so they're not going to be dragged into anything before they trust that it's not going to be a threat to them. And if we remember in this passage, Jesus asked his disciples, two of them, to go get a donkey, a colt, which is actually a young donkey, and to bring it back to him. Uh, you you could imagine they're there, they're on the way. I don't know. Perhaps the disciples were thinking, well, by the time we go and get the donkey and bring it back to you, we we could have been there already. But he sends them forth, and there's a very clear reason for it. And they go and they get the donkey, and there's no problem. They just say the Lord has need of it, and uh the owner releases the donkey for that purpose. And so it's brought back to Jesus, and this is a donkey that no one has ever ridden before. When I was in China some time ago, we ran horseback riding tours. I can tell you, an animal that's not used to having someone ride on it is quite dangerous to be on it. It can throw you off very easily. We just heard about donkeys and how stubborn they are, how intelligent they are. You it's very difficult to make them do something they don't want to do. And so part of it we see is this was so God ordained. They went, the owner had no problem releasing it to the Lord. They brought it back, they threw their cloaks on it. It had never been ridden before. There was no saddle, there was no blankets on it. They threw their cloaks on it, and Jesus came on this. And in this time, if you came riding on a horse, that was like a sign of military might. The general would ride on a horse. So the horse was a symbol of military might. But the symbol of riding on a donkey was, I come in peace. I come in peace. And so if you remember nothing else today, remember this. Jesus came riding on a donkey, the symbol for peace. And this also fulfilled the prophecy that is found in Zechariah, the ninth chapter, verse nine. Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. Righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Jesus chose this lowly and humble animal, a symbol of peace, to reveal his kingship and to fulfill this prophecy. And so I'm not sure the people knew about the prophecy or not, but they were going crazy. Here comes Jesus, and they came out and they took off their cloak and they put it on the dusty ground for him to come, because this was how you showed that a king was coming. This was, in a way, uh recognition or the making of a king. And they only Luke says that they were saying, Blessed is the king. Luke makes note of it. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. They recognized him as their king. And so there were a few feasts that if you live near Jerusalem, you needed to go to Jerusalem. Uh, there were three of them actually that you would have to go. And so one of them was for the Passover feast, and this was coming uh Passover time, right? And so perhaps they were coming, and they had done this year after year and year after year, and they were ready. They needed a change. Religion is one thing, but Jesus was another, and they heard about him, they heard that Jesus had been doing amazing things, and so it was a party, it was like a parade. All the people there, it wasn't just a few, the disciples, they were all there. Blessed is the king. Now, our passage is a familiar one, and so maybe you can travel with me just for a short moment to an alternate reality just to help us freshen up our uh our view of the story. Here in this alternate reality set in today's date, Russia invades Ukraine. But it happens very fast. The infrastructure is not destroyed, it's not a long-drawn-out battle. They come in, they take charge, they put uh soldiers on the street regularly to remind people who's in charge there. They take certain ones of the Ukrainians and keep them in positions to help them govern the place. And what do you think is in this alternate reality? What hope do the Ukrainian people in this fictional uh thing, what hope do they hold in their hearts? What do you think it is they long for? What is it they desire? They desire someone who's going to save them from being occupied. They they long for a hero who will stand up and rally the people together and be able to uh throw out those who are occupying the nation, that they can be a sovereign nation once more in this alternate reality. And so, 2,000 years ago, as we return to reality and now to history, the nation of Israel was occupied by the Romans. This is the context of what was going on at the time. And there were Roman soldiers on the streets, and the Jews they wanted their nation back. There was occasional attempts at insurrection, but these have been put down. And the people were looking for a hero who would be able to rally the nation of Israel to become a sovereign nation once again, no longer occupied. And so it's within this, and this was all wrapped up with prophecies which many had remembered and held uh near and dear to their hearts, that God himself would send a Messiah, the promised deliverer and savior, who would usher in this age of blessing and prosperity. This is what the people longed for. This was the hope hidden in hearts. And so they heard about Jesus of Nazareth and how he had been healing people. There were blind people who received sight again, there were demon-possessed who are made free. All sorts of things were gone. He even raised the dead. But this had all been happening, in a sense, in the countryside, not in Jerusalem itself. And here comes Jesus. And they they're coming because it's the Passover time, but here's this person they've heard so much about, and at long last he's coming to Jerusalem. And so they were expecting one thing. They are expecting, could this be the one? This is going to be the king who's going to let us rise up to be our own nation again. And so they shouted, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, and they put down their cloaks. And Jesus was certainly the king, but he was not the king that they expected. In the media, we have several superheroes who have a secret identity. Uh, perhaps you've subscribed to the Disney Plus, the TV service. I think is fairly popular now. We also, for a time, uh, for our girls, we did this, and there's all these superhero movies, right? Uh so Batman wears a costume to hide a secret identity. Can anyone anyone know the secret identity of Batman? Can you just shout it out? Who's that? No one knows. Too old of a superhero, huh? Bruce Wayne, yes, yes. Uh I I have a reward for you if you don't mind to come là. Yeah, yeah, can Bruce Swain. Yes. Uh how about another superhero? Spider-Man. What's Spider-Man underneath that mask, that costume? Okay, well done, huh? Well done. Under that mask and that costume. It's good, right? Who what's the secret identity of Spider-Man? Peter Parker, yes, yes, yes. All right. We know how things work now. And then we have this uh this really funny superhero, uh funny way of hiding his identity. We have Superman. How does Superman hide his identity? He takes his glasses off. No one will know who I really am now. But somehow it works. And what's the identity of Superman? Whoa, three for three. All right, very good. Uh yes, thank you, thank you. Okay, that's it for secret identities. Uh oh goodness. And up till now, Jesus had kept a pretty low profile, or at least as low a profile as you can have when you're healing the sick, when you can calm the waves, a storm, uh, more or less as best he could. He was keeping a low profile. Uh, leading up to Palm Sunday, there was a tension we can see all through the Gospels of Jesus giving hints, indirectly uh showing who he is, but also trying to hide who he was. And for instance, we have Mark in Mark chapter 7, and Mark records Jesus healing a man who is both deaf and mute. I'll read it out for us from Mark chapter 7. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him, and taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. In looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, Ephatha, that is, be opened. And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. He was trying to keep things a bit under wraps still, and yet the crowd, they still caught on to what was happening. Another time, this is uh in Mark chapter 8, he's with his disciples, and it says, Jesus went on with his disciples to the village of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that I am? And they told him, John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others one of the prophets. And he asked them, But who do you say that I am? And the extrovert, Peter, answered him, You are the Christ. And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. So there's this tension between revealing and remaining hidden. Do you remember Jesus' first miracle? What was Jesus' first miracle? Okay, water into wine. I don't know who said it first. There was another reward. Uh, but that's all right, that's all right. Water into wine, and I'll read from John's account here on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. And Jesus said to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. My hour has not yet come. Jesus was operating according to this divine timetable that only he was aware of. It wasn't evident to those around him. And Jesus, uh excuse me, John records one instance in Galilee where the people wanted to make him king. In John chapter 6, it says, Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountainside. Timing was important. All this is leading up to where we are today for Palm Sunday. And he's not just waiting, now I will allow people to recognize me. He's proactive in this because the time has come. And so when he asked the disciples to go get this donkey, of course, he himself knew this was something prophesied, this was something recognized. When they started to put their cloaks before him, and uh in another gospel it records the palm branches as well, this was because this is the way you make the entrance for the king. It was very intentional. Finally, at long last, this hidden identity, this secret identity that was only known to a few was to be made public. But the people, they expected a military master, but instead they received this humble hero. They expected, in a sense, the one who would be riding on the horse, showing that here comes military power, we're going to be united politically, we're going to be united religiously, we're going to take back our nation. But instead, he approached Jerusalem riding on this donkey of prophecy. And the people were casting their hopes on him. Donkeys, of course, they are they are not at the same level of intelligence as us. But can you imagine this donkey if they could think in that way? What? Jesus is the one calling for me. No one's ever ridden me before. I'm going to be the one that Jesus rides on. I'm going to be the donkey of prophecy. Zechariah prophesied about me. And so it's this thing that all comes together. And Jesus approaches Jerusalem. He's hailed as king. It is his rightful title. He didn't raise an army, though, as perhaps they expected this king to do. Instead, he raised disciples. He raised men and women who were willing to devote their lives to him in humble service. He raised followers who were faithful even unto death. In Philippians, Paul says that on earth Jesus did not grasp or take for himself what ought to be his by right. Instead, he humbled himself. Very soon after this entry, we uh we have a parable. And I'm going to read uh Matthew's account. This is from Matthew chapter 21, beginning in verse 33, if you want to follow along. Matthew chapter 21, beginning in verse 33. Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did the same to him. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? They said to him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons. And let's just skip ahead of verse here. Therefore I tell you, the The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And it says that when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. They knew who it was about. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds because they held him to be a prophet. And so in this parable, the vineyard is Israel. The vineyard is Israel. And the tenants were the chief priests and the Pharisees. And God sent his prophets to Israel. And they were rejected. They were treated badly. And some were even killed. And as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, he is the Son in this parable. He knows what's ahead. He knows what's ahead. By right, he should be receiving his inheritance, people devoted to him, a people saved by grace. But instead they they end up killing him. They don't want a ruler. They don't want a master. And if we're honest with one another, we also don't really want a master. We want things comfortable for ourselves. We want to get regular raises at work. We want to have uh nicer foods, we want to be able to travel, we want holidays, we want a better phone, perhaps want a better car, whatever it may be. Our natural heart condition is selfish. It is. I mean, that's the honest truth. Our hearts are selfish. And so we need this Jesus who comes on a donkey, the symbol of peace, that we may have peace with God. Back to our passage in Luke, Luke 19, verse 41. It says, And when he drew near the city, he wept over it. And as they are on this journey approaching Jerusalem, they are coming down the southern slope of the Mount of Olives, and they have this first glimpse of the city of Jerusalem in the distance. They were getting close now. And we have this whole passage which probably takes place at that first glimpse of the putting down the cloaks and the ushering in Jesus and recognizing him as king. But soon after that, continuing on, the city disappears from sight for a while. It's still a ways off. And so it seemed at the next time they came down and around, and you could see Jerusalem again, is when they were drawing near and he saw the city and he wept over it. He wept because he knew they'd reject him. He wept knowing that the people they'd separate themselves from God. He wept knowing that their disobedience and the rejection of him would in the end mean the destruction of their city. They desired a golden age. And they're saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, but they were about to, in a sense, to enter a dark age. Because those same ones who wanted to make him king and to see him as king are the ones who put on that cross above him as the crime committed. This is the king of the Jews. They crucified him for the very same thing. To summarize our passage, the people welcomed the arrival of Jesus with joy and celebration. It was like a parade. But when they discovered he was not the king they were expecting, they turned against him, they rejected him, and they sentenced him to death. We say Palm Sunday, and we all have our palm branches. Can you give a little wave here? Yeah, we have our palm branches. And we're not wrong to have the palm branches, but wouldn't it be more appropriate if we could bring a donkey in? But donkeys are hard to come by, so we have Palm Sunday, and that's that's the best choice. But I want us to remember he came on the donkey, a symbol of peace. And so as we continue our service, partaking of holy communion together, as we bear witness and proclaim the death and resurrection of our Lord, his atoning work for our sins, we proclaim that we are new creatures in Christ. If we are in Christ, we are new creatures, we are no longer the same. And so I think it at this time it's appropriate for us to prepare our hearts to respond once again to the Lord. As the Lord came, although they are expecting a different king, in our passage we see they put their cloak on the dusty ground that this donkey could walk across it, that they could make Jesus King. And it's my prayer that as we partake of the bread and the wine, we proclaim once again Jesus is king over our lives. He's not a political king. That's not the king he came to be. But he came to be Lord over our lives. It's my prayer we'll continue to experience the goodness of God in our lives. We will experience continual infilling of the Holy Spirit. That for those of us who are in need of peace, and some of us perhaps it was difficult getting out the door this morning. There were children who couldn't seem to find their shoes. Maybe you were quarreling with your spouse in the car over being late, whatever it may be. Maybe you have no peace because you had a blow-up with someone at the office in the week past, whatever it may be. Whatever it may be, let us know that today we come before the Prince of Peace. That's one of the names for Jesus, who can work peace in our lives as we surrender to Him, who gives us peace before God, that when we pray, He hears our prayers. And so today, as we soon come for celebrating Holy Communion, may we receive as we take the bread and the wine, peace with God once again. Amen. If you'd like to know more about Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.